Look who's heeerrreee!!

Hey dudes and dudettes it is I the horrible no good good for nothing blogger. So my son. Yeah. He's already two months and i've yet to do any of the following:

- blog about him

- get him a proper portrait done

- start a baby book

- send birth announcements.

So here I start with at least blogging about little Mister Jude Amir Smith. He is awesome and very princely (Amir = prince). He's a hand full and we love him! He laughs and laughs...at midnight, takes ONE type of paci, loves his brother's singing/reading, LMFAO is his favorite band, loves football games on t.v. and to eat. Yes he eats and eats. He's exclusively breast-fed and he's chunky. He weighs over 14 lbs already!!! At birth he was 8lbs 13oz 21.5ins!! He was born on 10/15/11 and I knew I'd miss announcing him via blog, sorry about that. I'm new year's resolution is to well, get a nice camera and maybe photo blog?? Actually I need a new computer and camera for that...but we will see.

Here are some pictures of the newest little guy!! Enjoy ;)!!

1 month photo Christmas Day Day one 1 month birthday!!

Up to date

So ok I'm back and got a little news. Actually, I wanted to post before the month was over! On June 2 we found out that baby is a BOY!! Don't know how I feel about it just yet...but I'm getting over my shock! James felt baby boy kick for the first time on Sunday June 26th. He thought that was just amazing and made the cutest little face (he is going to be an awesome big brother!
Summer's in full swing and that means...well not much around my house! LOL. But hey the kids are loving the time off and I'm loving not having to wake them up in the morning! My pregnancy is rapidly coming to a close, I have 112 more days as of today. This means one more monthly midwife appointment until the two-weekers!! I can't believe how fast its going, or how much I'm growing either. Well that's about it for now, be in touch (yes before the new baby is one I PROMISE!!)

The reason I don't post more...

My life is kinda boring. I mean I work, go home, take care of the kids, cook, clean and read. That's about it. I could write long book reviews and recipes and such, but come on would you really be that interested? My kids are the same, funny, smart and sometimes frustrating and that's just that. But every once in a while I still log on just to update my tiny world about my family happenings, and when I do I'm overwhelmed with all the things I've forgotten to write in the last...oh four months or so! Well...

James is now in PACE its the gifted program at school. Right now he only goes once a week or so, but next year he will have a full "gifted" load (whatever that means). We knew that kid was special in the good way!

The older kids completed LTC this past weekend and it was a lot of fun. I missed Brittany's choir event by being two rooms over, but I heard they did awesome. The kids participated in Bible Bowl and I was the assistant coach. Let me tell you that coaching a group of 4-10th graders on the book of Revelation is NOT an easy task! I'm just glad I was only "co" coaching! Brittany was in Drama, Scrapbooking, and Chorus Jacob did Signing and Powerpoint and they all did Bible Bowl. Our lives were one mass exodus to and from the church building every Sunday, but it was worth it!

And now for the big news that if you were already bored and clicked away you would miss... check out the photo below...

Ok its not an alien...we think although with the picture being sideways like that it does kinda look like a frog.We are expecting. (Sorry for the sideways picture!)The newest Smith is scheduled for drop off on 10.18.11....Thanks for reading...hopefully I'll be posting more, but with six kids, probably not!

First post of 2011...and what a wonderful day to do it!

Okay so I've been MIA but just because I haven't had much to say. Christmas pictures would be nice, but alas I have no camera charger and no pictures. This is something I am going to rectify really soon, because I missed a lot this holiday season being camera-less. I missed a great Christmas eve family shindig, a hot-wheels/zhuzhu pet/spy watch/super early morning Christmas, a rockin' chillaxin' NYE '10, a super awesome mini-snowman and snow ice cream made by mommy and Jamesy. So I guess its time I get a camera charger? My kiddos will be adults soon, so I guess I should get to snapping and uploading. I have tons of pictures that only recently made it out for James' star of the week poster. Something I need to take a picture of and post...
NE way, James is once again fascinated with my jiggling middle. The other day he said mommy it looks like you have a baby in your belly. Do you have a baby in your belly? Me: Nope just fat James: Its so jiggly * he puts his had no my stomach and moves my fat back and forth saying jiggly jiggly jiggly, jiggly jiggly jiggly.... for FIVE minutes!!* Nice one son. So then a few days later he sits next to me on the couch and says mommy are you sure there is no baby in your belly. Me: Nope baby just fat James: See a baby could be right there mommy * as he pats my fat* Me: Nope no baby. James: Mommy you should have a baby. Me: Jamesy you are my baby. James: I'm not a baby you need a baplacement (replacement). A little baby brother or sister. When are you going to have another baby mommy? Me: I don't know, no time soon sweetie. Maybe never you have to ask Daddy. James: Where do babies come from? Me: Well, lets wait for Daddy on that one....
Oh boy, here we go again...I love how I can usually put my kids off on their father. Here's another example...
Brittany: Hey what if when I'm in 10th grade an 11th grader asks me to a dance, can I go??
Me: Brittany you are in the 8th grade....
Brittany: I know but what IF....
Me: Ask your dad...
See it works marvelously and I don't have to answer the tough questions by myself. But I do have a little boy obsessed with my fat and babies, and a teenager already dreaming of older boys...great, just great. *Sigh* Gotta love my crazy kiddos!!
On another note I am signed up and training for a 1/2 marathon!! Yeah!!! I have already run 14 miles this week, and after this evening's run I should be up to 18 miles. I'm really excited because I'm actually following through this time. (Another reason for a camera charger, so I can have proof when I cross the finish line!). I could say its a New Year's resolution, but I'm not going to do those anymore...too depressing when you realize on February first you've kept exactly ZERO of those resolutions!!!
On a heavier note...please keep my family in prayer. My father was diagnosed with congestive heart failure on Friday. Its been a rough couple of days but he is doing okay, but please keep him lifted up to the father.
Enough of my droning!! Hopefully next post will have pictures!!
Oh last but not least: Happy Founders Day women of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated on 98 years of Scholarship, Service and Sisterhood! The tradition carries on today because Delta Sigma Theta IS the ONLY way. Ooo Oop sorors!!! (To all my non-greek readership...today is the day my sorority was founded 98 years ago on the campus of Howard University in Washington D.C. by 22 courageous women.)
Well that's all for now!! Have a great one, and hopefully 2011 is starting off well for you.

Turkey Day Dilemma

Hello all, so okay my blog heading today is misleading. Sorry, I just wanted to catch your attention, but now that I have you here I'd like to ask you a question, what is your favorite Thanksgiving food and can I have the recipe? I'm wanting to try something new but would like some feedback so if you are out there reading this right now can you respond please? Thanks! P.S. I'm ordering a new camera charger tonight so pictures should be coming soon!

What should I have done on my day off??

Maybe gotten a massage, a mani/pedi, or taking care of a long list of things I need to do. Nope I didn't do any of those instead I was the taxi for my kiddos and a teacher's aide for my little one's class for a little while, and you know what...I wouldn't have had it any other way. Right now I'm about to whip up something for my office Turkey Day lunch, get the sis' in law from night school and make apple turnovers with my beauty of a daughter...life is great!!
But I'm so glad we have today to celebrate Veterans' including my very own dad Lonnie R. Carrigan who served our country for 21 years in the United States Air Force. THANK YOU!! All of my Veterans and my dad, for all you've done, do and will do in the future. My hat is off and I give salute to you!
(Oh and p.s. go and eat at Golden Corral vets...it's free lol!!)

The end of an era

On Saturday November 6, 2010 my family laid to rest my grandfather James O. Turner. He was my last (blood) grandparent remaining. It was a hard thing to do, knowing that I no longer have grandparents to share things with. Grandparents are the parents you wished you had, they are the go to guys that believe you can never do wrong and have a hard time saying no. My mother was raised by her grandparents and so I was blessed with both my great grandparents and my grandparents to share life with (if only for a short while). My great grandfather and grandfather were both men of integrity and dedication. Their hard work and commitment to family have always inspired me to be a better person. I named my son James after both of them and pray that he can live up the character of the two men whose name he shares. My grandfather was larger than life. Standing at 6'2 and having hands as large as frying pans makes it hard to not be considered as such. He had movie star good looks and loved sports. Baseball was his all time favorite. I remember two Christmas' ago he sent my son a package and in that package he sent him a full size San Fransisco Giants baseball hat, a baseball, and a baseball glove. My son was only three and the hat and glove dwarfed his small body, but if you knew my grandfather you'd know it was a very fitting gift. My son still has the baseball, glove and hat and will always have them as a reminder of the man for whom he was named. While I was in Las Vegas for his funeral my uncle found a video tape of me at my grandparents business. (They owned a park and fly outside of the Oakland Airport we lovingly refer to it as the shop). It was shot a few days shy of my great grandfather's birthday on the day after Christmas in 1991. I was a little girl with a big personality and a lot of love for the man I called Grandpa Jim. I wished I had a picture of one particular part of the video. We had finally convinced my grandfather to be a part of the video and I had placed a small chair in front of him and he leaned over me and said something about the four generations we had in the same room and how lucky we were to have that. I'm so glad I got to see that video (even though it was originally meant to be shown as blackmail against me and my uncle) because I got to see him living and most importantly loving me. I will miss him dearly. The way he called me Shayler, his baritone voice, but I'm comforted in my knowledge that he loved his family and that the Lord blessed us all with James O. Turner.